Ledger-Dispatch

By Bethany A. Monk (bmonk@ledger-dispatch.com) =

Jackson Mayor Rosalie Pryor Escamilla = signs in at=20 the May 13 Amador Board of Supervisor's Meeting to discuss the = proposed=20 impact fee waiver. More than 70 people attended the meeting that=20 day.

Photo by: Bethany A. = Monk

Paul Bramell addresses the Amador Board = of=20 Supervisors regarding his economic stimulus package proposal = during the=20 board's May 13 meeting. The board approved a revised proposal that = will=20 waive impact fees for homebuilders from June 1 to Nov. 1, during = Tuesday's=20 meeting.

Photo by: Bethany A.=20 Monk
It spent several weeks lingering, with = much=20 anticipation from local contractors, real estate agents and = homebuilders, but=20 the county's economic stimulus package finally got some = action.

The=20 proposal passed in a 5-0 vote during Tuesday's board meeting, its third = week on=20 the agenda, and will provide economic relief for homebuilders in the = county via=20 a five-month impact fee waiver from June 1 to Nov. 1. Initially = presented to the=20 board May 6 by general contractor Paul Bramell, the stimulus package - = per board=20 revision - will waive the $7,800 in county facility fees and $3,300 of = the=20 $4,300 parks and recreation fees included in the impact fees = homebuilders in the=20 area pay. Contractors will be limited to two waivers during the = six-month=20 period, and no more than 30 may be issued countywide, the board = stipulated;=20 waivers apply to residential homes and do not include commercial=20 buildings.

"We need to help the community get back to work," said = board=20 Chairman Richard Forster.

Bramell approached the board May 6 and = May 13=20 with his proposal asking the county to waive impact fees for six months, = reduce=20 them 50 percent for the next six months and 25 percent for the = succeeding=20 months. Such a plan would give homebuilders an impetus to build their = houses,=20 which will stimulate the economy and provide more jobs, he = said.

Impact=20 fees have to do with fees accrued as a result of more people moving to = the=20 county, County Administrative Officer Terri Daly explained during the = May 6=20 meeting. The fees, she added, address impacts to roads, schools, and = parks and=20 recreation.

"I was pleased with the decision they made," Bramell = told the=20 Ledger Dispatch Tuesday afternoon. "I hope that those 30 permits are = scooped up=20 in the first months, and then we'll certainty get back to work." = Contractors=20 will purchase supplies in local stores, he added, "and spend a lot of = money in=20 restaurants."

"I'm very happy that it passed," said Joel Lesch, = president=20 of the Amador County Association of Realtors.

Bramell's original = proposal=20 asked the board to also consider waiving the $3,000 in traffic = mitigation fees.=20 This would have impacted an agreement that took several years of work, = said=20 Charles Field, executive director of the Amador County Transportation=20 Commission.

Traffic mitigation fees, which the board agreed to = raise 8=20 percent during its May 13 meeting, help fund several projects such as = the=20 Highway 49, Highway 88 intersection in Martell, and many others, Field = said. The=20 memorandum began in 2001 and finally, by 2006, the five cities and the = county=20 were on board.

Waiving these fees, he said, would have = "potentially=20 created more work for staff, the cities and the board than it was going = to=20 save."

Although several spoke in favor of the proposed economic = stimulus=20 plan, not everyone agreed it was the best move for the county as a=20 whole.

"There is no such thing as a free lunch," Kathy duBois = told the=20 board during the May 13 meeting. "Somebody has to pay for it ... that = somebody=20 is everybody in this room. We're all giving the contractors a free=20 handout."

A handful of residents said they were concerned about = the=20 amount of homes already on the market and said the county didn't need to = build=20 more houses.

"There's an average of 400 homes for sale per year = (in the=20 county)," Bramell said. "I don't think we'll be finding a lot of = contractors=20 building speculation homes," he said, referring to homes that have been = built=20 without a buyer. Instead, the stimulus package would give people = incentive to=20 build homes they were already planning, Bramell said.

He decided = not to=20 pursue fee reductions for home additions or remodels because he wanted = to avoid=20 affecting the building department, which may have had to reduce staff if = such=20 fee reductions were set into place.

For the county's Parks and = Recreation=20 Department, which will receive only $1,000 of the $4,330 it usually = receives=20 from each homebuilder's impact fee payments, the loss of revenue could = affect=20 the department's future projects.

Tracey Towner-Yep, executive = director=20 of Amador County Recreation Agency, told the board during the May 13 = meeting=20 that waiving impact fees "is a lousy idea."

"The impact fees will = be=20 there whether they are waived or not," she said. "Impact fees are not = just drawn=20 out of a hat. The board adopted them (after analysis)."

"We'll = creatively=20 find new ways," to fund parks in the county, Towner-Yep said in a brief=20 interview after Tuesday's meeting. "Maybe some of the developers will = step up=20 here."

That's happened in the past with other park and recreation = projects, she said.

"I'm very much in favor of parks and = recreation,"=20 said District 1 Supervisor Rich Escamilla, who spoke against the = proposed fee=20 waiver at previous meetings.

He said he voted in favor the impact = fees=20 waiver on Tuesday to work with contractors and "just to see if we can = get the=20 economy going."

"I don't know if too many people are going to = take=20 advantage of this," said County Assessor Jim Rooney during an interview=20 Wednesday. The board passed the proposal with some revision, he said, = reducing=20 the amount homebuilders will save from $15,000 to about = $10,000.

Impact=20 fees are different than school impact and building permit fees, Rooney = said, in=20 that they are not based on size and quality of the home - rather, each=20 homebuilder pays the same amount.

Bramell's original proposal = would have=20 cut about 15 percent of the overall fees a homebuilder building a = smaller house=20 would pay, Rooney added. "This was an opportunity for low income or = young people=20 just starting out, to get their foot in the door and get something=20 built."

"It's not as much as initially proposed," he said, "but = it's=20 still substantial."

Bethany A. = Monk